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This is more wanderings through the Partch Tonality Diamond using a Markov Chain Drunkard’s Walk. The specific otonalities, which are major sounding, and utonalities, which are minor sounding are these:

F+-maj
A+-maj
D+-maj
A+-maj
F+-maj
A+-maj
A+-maj
D+-maj
A+-maj
F+-maj
A+-maj
F+-maj
E--maj
Db-maj
E--maj
Db-maj
E--maj
Cn-min
D+-min
Gn-min
Db-min
Gn-min
Db-min
Ebmin
Cn-maj
Ab-maj
Cn-maj

Notice how it tends to pick one either up or down the list of potential keys. In some cases, it may pick the same one, but that’s because I created a short section that doesn’t use the Drunkard’s walk, instead trying to stay in the same key for a few measures. The end has a familiar C Major to Ab Major chord change, which is one I’ve used in many of my pieces over the years. It comes back to add a dose of familiarity to the strange wanderings. In this case, the choices include all the available o- and u-tonalities in the diamond, except for these four: F Major, F Minor, A- Minor, B- Minor.

I should mention that Castilleja miniata is the latin name for the common paintbrush, responsible in part for the proliferation of colors on the mountains up here.

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Castilleja – Deep Water #9

This piece is a work in progress, with more to come, and maybe less. It’s scored for Alto Flute, English Horn, Piccolo, Tuba, Trombone, French Horn, and Bassoon. I am using a different way to pick pitches, rhythms, envelopes, and volumes, and I’m still working through the issues. There are more indirect choices that the pre-processor makes, under the guidance of the Markov Chain Drunkard’s Walk algorithm. In the past, I would make some choices for him, but now he’s more or less on his own to pick among the lists of lists of lists of choices. Indirectness is the watchword.

I should mention that Castilleja is the latin name for the common paintbrush, responsible in part for the proliferation of colors on the mountains up here. That’s a picture from last weekend on the Pacific Crest Trail near where we live.

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Castilleja Deep Water #6

Added Alto Flute and English Horn. I had an opportunity to work on the piece on the train from Seattle to Portland. This is the result.

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Clover – Like Wind #8

I included some different randomizing algorithms in this version. Most of the piece uses the Drunkard’s Walk, but I also include a part where the pre-processor tries, with varying degrees of success, to repeat the same choice many times. It’s kind of like getting stuck in a beat, but where the repetition is not exactly the same for a while. Then it returns to the Drunkard Walk for more variety. The amount of variety changes may times through the piece.

It’s scored for Balloon and Tube Drums, Finger Pianos, Baritone Guitars, Vibraphones, Harps, and Marimbas. The keys change frequently as the pre-processor wanders sequentially through the otonality major and utonality minor keys. I chose a key by moving up or down a list, one step at a time for the Dunkard’s Walk, or try to stay in the same key when the repetition is deliberately encouraged. Here’s the list:

.chor-x-01 &Cnmajx.
.chor-x-02 &Abmajx.
.chor-x-03 &Fnmajx.
.chor-x-04 &D+majx.
.chor-x-05 &A+majx.
.chor-x-06 &F+majx.
.chor-x-07 &E-majx.
.chor-x-08 &Dbmajx.
.chor-x-09 &Fnminx.
.chor-x-10 &A-minx.
.chor-x-11 &Cnminx.
.chor-x-12 &D+minx.
.chor-x-13 &Gnminx.
.chor-x-15 &Dbminx.
.chor-x-16 &Ebminx.

I change the key by starting a line with this code:

&chor-x*.

Here are the keys chosen in the 118 different choices made in the piece. You can see that they are sequential most of the time, but sometimes the are random and then repeat for a few.

#1-20 #21-40 #41-60 #61-80 #81-100 #101-118
Db-maj Cn-min Fn-maj Ebmin Db-maj Db-maj
E--maj E--maj Fn-maj Cn-maj E--maj Fn-min
F+-maj E--maj A--min Ab-maj Db-maj A--min
A+-maj F+-maj A--min Fn-maj Fn-min Cn-min
D+-maj E--maj A--min D+-maj A--min D+-min
Fn-maj Db-maj A--min A+-maj Cn-min Cn-min
D+-maj E--maj A--min F+-maj A--min A--min
Fn-maj Db-maj F+-maj E--maj Fn-min Fn-min
Ab-maj E--maj F+-maj F+-maj A--min Db-maj
Cn-maj F+-maj F+-maj A+-maj Fn-min E--maj
Ab-maj A+-maj F+-maj D+-maj A--min Db-maj
Cn-maj F+-maj A+-maj Fn-maj A--min Fn-min
Ebmin E--maj D+-maj D+-maj Fn-min Fn-min
Db-min F+-maj Fn-maj Fn-maj Fn-min Fn-min
Gn-min A+-maj Ab-maj D+-maj Fn-min Fn-min
D+-min D+-maj Cn-maj A+-maj Fn-min Fn-min
Gn-min A+-maj Ebmin F+-maj A--min Fn-min
D+-min F+-maj Db-min E--maj Fn-min Fn-min
D+-min E--maj Gn-min F+-maj A--min
Cn-min Fn-maj Db-min E--maj Fn-min

See that long section of A–min and another few sections where it stays on Fn-min, or F+-maj? Then it returns to going up or down the list.

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Clover – Like Wind #3

I’ve added some bass finger piano, vibes, finger pianos, marimbas, and baritone guitars to the mix.

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Clover – Like Wind #2

Today’s music is a result of noodling around with a new way to chose rhythms arithmetically. I pick a set of six durations randomly.

.s-d-16-1a .d-16-1 d4h0x
.s-d-16-1b .d-16-2 d2h0x
.s-d-16-1c .d-16-3 d2h0x
.s-d-16-1d .d-16-4 d2h0x
.s-d-16-1e .d-16-5 d2h0x
.s-d-16-1f .d-16-6 d4h0x
@
.s-d-16-2a .d-16-1 d4h0x
.s-d-16-2b .d-16-2 d2h0x
.s-d-16-2c .d-16-3 d2h0x
.s-d-16-2d .d-16-4 d2h0x
.s-d-16-2e .d-16-5 d4h0x
.s-d-16-2f .d-16-6 d2h0x

Then I have a way of calling either the first set, or any other like it where it sets all six separate durations in one stroke.


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Clover – Like Wind #1

I’ve been retuning the samples lately. I’ve tried several different methods, and have the best results from playing the samples through a speaker and calculating the frequency using a phone App called Pano Tuner. I’m not happy with the results. Most of the samples are from the McGill University Master Sample library, and most are terribly out of tune. I apply a cent adjustment in Csound to fix them as best I can. But for the higher notes, the musicians really couldn’t hold a pitch for the duration of the sample.

Here is another version of the Lupin song I’ve been working on lately. Lots of Dunkard Walks through the Partch Tonality Diamond.

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Lupin – Like Trees #15

I’m down to choosing between three versions, 12, 13, or 14. Or another run if I don’t like them enough. #12 is kind of neat. I can’t figure out why there is so much repetition in it: I applied the Markov Chain Drunkard walk to almost all the choices, yet it seems to repeat so often. I’ll have to dig into that sometime, but for now I like it.

The piece is scored for Finger Pianos, Baritone Guitars, Marimbas, Vibraphones, Harps, Alto Flutes, and English Horns. Lots of them.

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Lupin – Like Trees #12

This one is just about done. I added an alto flute and english horn part, and a section of unison drunkard walks across a scale, a set of thirds, or fourths. The chord changes are a drunkar’s walk around the utonality and otonality of a Partch tonality diamond to the 15 limit, but mostly 11 limit is used.

At this point I create multiple versions and listen to them hoping to find one that is the best.

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Lupin – Like Trees #9

Working with Baritone Guitar, Finger Piano, Marimba, Vibes on the rhythm part. I hope to add some woodwinds later on. I’m searching for a way to turn more of my musical choices into Markov Chain Drunkard Walks, but without too much of a feeling of randomness. The title is from a favorite wildflower in the Cascades, and my recent listenings to Faulkner’s Sound and the Fury while I climb the peaks up here. I’m on my third time around, hoping it will make more sense as I go through it again.


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Lupin – Like Trees #2